Sermon Archive (Page 31)

By The Rev. Sherry Deets November 6, 2011 Revelation 7:9-17 and Matthew 5:1-12 “All through the years, love found its ways following the sacred song whose first note began the lullaby that God sang to each of you before you were born then sent you on a lifetime of seeking to hear it again and again and again”. (the Rev. Paula Lawrence Wehmiller) This day we celebrate All Saint’s Day, remembering, in love, all those who have gone before, who…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets October 30, 2011 Matthew 23:1-12 Do as they say, not as they do. Jesus is calling the scribes and the Pharisees hypocrites. And we think to ourselves, yes, go get ‘em Jesus! But, there is movement in this story of Jesus’. The focus shifts from the scribes and the Pharisees – to Jesus’ first disciples – to the Christians of Matthew’s day – to us. Yes, us. As long as Jesus is talking about the…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets October 23, 2011 Matthew 22: 34-46 So, we hear in today’s gospel reading that a lawyer asked a question to test Jesus. He asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” And there is nothing new in Jesus’ answer. It is not something original. In Jewish writings long before Jesus’ time, these two commandments summarized the whole of the law. In fact, Luke’s Gospel attributes this summary not to Jesus but to the…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets October 16, 2011 Matthew 22: 15-22 What we are witnessing in this confrontation between Jesus and some Pharisees is precisely that: a confrontation. The “Pharisees” represented here do not represent all of the Pharisees. There were some who saw Jesus as a worthy debating partner, perhaps even as a friend. The Pharisees we see in this passage, though, despite their flattering descriptions of his integrity, are not remotely interested in honest debate. These represent the…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets October 2, 2011 Matthew 21:33-46 He was, by all accounts, a successful man. This builder of fine homes in an upscale American suburb was known to all as a creative craftsman, a shrewd businessman, a fair-minded employer, and a generous benefactor. But he was aging now, and before he set out for Florida for the winter, he approached his top superintendent and told him that he was retiring. “I want you to build me a…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets September 25, 2011 Matthew 21: 23-32 In our gospel today, Jesus and the Pharisees are exchanging trick questions. The Pharisees ask Jesus where he gets his authority to teach and heal, and they’re hoping to trap him to saying something stupid. And Jesus asks a trick question of his own, having to do with John the Baptist, and any answer the Pharisees offer will back them into a corner, so they play dumb. It is…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets September 18, 2011 Matthew 20:1-16 Be honest. When you heard the reading of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard just now, did your heart leap for joy? Were you thrilled when you heard that the workers who’d toiled and slaved all day long in the hot sun were going to get the same day’s wages as those who’d worked only one hour? I doubt it! Let’s face it, this is not one of…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets September 11, 2011 You may have heard the story of the woman who spent the first day after her divorce sadly packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.1 On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down on the floor in the dining room by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar,…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets September 4, 2011 Matthew 18:15-20 So…Matthew wants everything to be perfect, and that includes his church. Conflicts have arisen among some of the members of Matthew’s congregation, and he just can’t stand it. He wants everything to be perfect and in order, and conflict, if nothing else, is a messy business. I can imagine him lying awake at night, thinking about how to deal with the problems he’s encountering among the fellowship. He remembers what…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets August 21, 2011 Exodus 1:8—2:10 What if I were to tell you that what you do this week could change the world? Would you believe me? Could you imagine it so? Smile politely but secretly scoff? What you do this week could change the world. Two women once made a decision … they took a chance, and changed the world. It was, simultaneously, a small gesture and heroic act. They actually disobeyed. And because of…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets August 14, 2011 Matthew 15:10-28 Brian Stoffregen hit the nail on the head when he said that Matthew 15 is all about ritual purity: Who’s clean? Who’s not? What makes them that way? On the one side we have the Pharisees carping and complaining that Jesus’ disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate. On the other side, we have this poor Canaanite woman begging Jesus to heal her daughter. It’s an age-old question: Who…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets August 7, 2011 Matthew 14: 22-33 Last week, we heard in our gospel reading, about Jesus feeding the 5,000. This week we hear another miracle – Jesus walking on water. There are so many facets to this story and in the times before, I have focused on Peter and how he takes the risk. He gets out of that boat and believes that he can walk on water because Jesus is there. As soon as…